Doing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. Money—investing, personal finance, and business decisions—is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.
“Read this book. It explains so much about the moment...Beautiful, heartbreaking work.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates “A deep accounting of how America got to a point where a median white family has 13 times more wealth than the median black family.” —The Atlantic “Extraordinary...Baradaran focuses on a part of the American story that’s often ignored: the way African Americans were locked out of the financial engines that create wealth in America.” —Ezra Klein When the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, the black community owned less than 1 percent of the total wealth in America. More than 150 years later, that number has barely budged. The Color of Money seeks to explain the stubborn persistence of this racial wealth gap by focusing on the generators of wealth in the black community: black banks. With the civil rights movement in full swing, President Nixon promoted “black capitalism,” a plan to support black banks and minority-owned businesses. But the catch-22 of black banking is that the very institutions needed to help communities escape the deep poverty caused by discrimination and segregation inevitably became victims of that same poverty. In this timely and eye-opening account, Baradaran challenges the long-standing belief that black communities could ever really hope to accumulate wealth in a segregated economy. “Black capitalism has not improved the economic lives of black people, and Baradaran deftly explains the reasons why.” —Los Angeles Review of Books “A must read for anyone interested in closing America’s racial wealth gap.” —Black Perspectives
America’s elite have been using cash value life insurance to stockpile wealth for centuries. Used correctly, it is better described as a personal bank on steroids, and a financial bunker for tough times. To be clear, this book is not about the typical garbage peddled by most insurance agents. Rather, an alternative to the risky investment strategies taught by Wall Street. It details a highly efficient form of cash value life insurance designed to supercharge your savings and stockpile wealth. A product so powerful it’s responsible for the success of Walt Disney, JC Penney, Ray Kroc, and thousands of others. Here's what you'll discover: •How the wealthy use this vehicle to create more wealth, take less risk, and create predictable income they can't outlive •Why banks and corporations place billions of dollars in this powerful vehicle •How I earned over 300 percent returns leveraging my life insurance policies •How you can create a safe, predictable foundation to enhance every financial decision you make •How to win with taxes and keep more of the money you make While the information compiled into this book is valuable, you'll also find three case studies that show you exactly how it works. You'll be able to visually see how it grows, how it's accessed, as well as the future income that can be taken. ______________ Influencers of this book are Nelson Nash, his book "Becoming Your Own Banker: Unlock the Infinite Banking Concept"; Pamela Yellen, her book "Bank on Yourself"; Dwayne Burnell, his book "Financial Independence in the 21st Century - Life Insurance * Utilize the Infinite Banking Concept * Compliment Your 401K - Retirement Planning With Permanent Whole Life versus Term or Universal - Create Financial Peace"; and my Father Dan Thompson, and his book "The Banking Effect: Acquiring wealth through your own Private Banking System." I was introduced to these financial strategies at a young age, and this is book represents the effort and energy on both the part of everyone of my mentors, these authors here, as well as my own diligence in learning about and implementing these very same strategies into my personal finances. This book is designed to simplify some of the concepts surrounding cash value life insurance, such as Infinite Banking and Bank on Yourself, and make them easier to understand, stripping them down to the core benefits of cash value life insurance.
HOW DOES MONEY HELP IN CREATING A HAPPY LIFE? In The Geometry of Wealth, behavioral finance expert Brian Portnoy delivers an inspired answer based on the idea that wealth, truly defined, is funded contentment. It is the ability to underwrite a meaningful life. This stands in stark contrast to angling to become rich, which is usually an unsatisfying treadmill. At the heart of this groundbreaking perspective, Portnoy takes readers on a journey toward wealth, informed by disciplines ranging from ancient history to modern neuroscience. He contends that tackling the big questions about a joyful life and tending to financial decisions are complementary, not separate, tasks. These big questions include: • How is the human brain wired for two distinct experiences of happiness? And why can money “buy” one but not the other? • Why is being market savvy among the least important aspects of creating wealth but self-awareness among the most? • Can we strike a balance between pushing for more and being content with enough? This journey memorably contours along three basic shapes: A circle, triangle, and square help us visualize how we adapt to evolving circumstances, set clear priorities, and find empowerment in simplicity. In this accessible and entertaining book, Portnoy reveals that true wealth is achievable for many—including those who despair it is out of reach—but only in the context of a life in which purpose and practice are thoughtfully calibrated.
“A cheerful manifesto on removing obstacles between yourself and the income of your dreams.” —New York Magazine From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of You Are a Badass®, a life-changing guide to making the kind of money you’ve only ever dreamed of. You Are a Badass at Making Money will launch you past the fears and stumbling blocks that have kept financial success beyond your reach. Drawing on her own transformation—over just a few years—from a woman living in a converted garage with tumbleweeds blowing through her bank account to a woman who travels the world in style, Jen Sincero channels the inimitable sass and practicality that made You Are a Badass an indomitable bestseller. She combines hilarious personal essays with bite-size, aha concepts that unlock earning potential and get real results. Learn to: • Uncover what's holding you back from making money • Give your doubts, fears, and excuses the heave-ho • Relate to money in a new (and lucrative) way • Shake up the cocktail of creation • Tap into your natural ability to grow rich • Shape your reality—stop playing victim to circumstance • Get as wealthy as you wanna be “This book truly crystallizes the concept that financial abundance is an inside job—in that it all begins with your mindset—and Sincero gets serious (in the funniest ways possible) about helping you identify your particular limiting beliefs surrounding money.” —PopSugar
An ethnographic study of China’s new elites and their rarified world of debauchery and corruption: “A must have book for China studies” (Choice). This pioneering investigation reveals the private lives—and the nightlives—of the powerful entrepreneurs and managers redefining success and status in the Chinese city of Chengdu. For more than three years, anthropologist John Osburg accompanied wealthy Chinese businessmen as they courted clients, partners, and government officials. Now he invites readers along on his journey through the highly gendered world of luxury karaoke clubs, saunas, and massage parlors—places designed to cater to the desires of elite men. Within these spaces, a masculinization of business is taking place. Osburg details the complex code of behavior that governs businessmen as they go about banqueting, drinking, gambling, bribing, exchanging gifts, and obtaining sexual services. These intricate social networks play a key role in generating business, performing social status, and reconfiguring gender roles. Yet underneath the façade, many entrepreneurs feel trapped by their obligations and moral compromises in this evolving environment. Osburg examines their deep ambivalence about China’s future and their own complicity in the major issues of post-Mao Chinese society—corruption, inequality, materialism, and loss of trust.
Overcome debt, make smart money decisions, and build a financially secure future Do you support your family, pay your taxes, get the bills done on time—and yet still struggle to achieve financial security? If so, you’re not alone. About one-third of all Americans have not saved for retirement, another third have no savings at all, and more than half have no budget. How did we get here? Two words: financial illiteracy. As money and finance have become more complex over the decades, the average American has not been able to keep up—in essence, leaving our personal financial decisions up to banks, bureaucrats, policymakers, and even fraudsters. Norm Champ, a former director at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), provides an in-depth primer on how money works, designed just for you—the non-finance reader. Champ shows how to: • Pay off your loans and stay out of debt for the long run • Build savings that will see you through thick and thin • Avoid financial disaster—from bad credit deals to outright scams • Start building a safe, smart investing portfolio Our financial system is easier to grasp than you think—and armed with this new knowledge and insight, you’ll finally take control of your financial future. When you know how money works, you make better financial decisions. It’s that simple. Mastering Money demystifies finance and provides plainspoken, straightforward advice for building a solid financial foundation you can count on in good times and bad.
Educate yourself about finance and socially conscious investing with a woman-centered approach Activate Your Money provides the foundational support women need to talk to each other about their money, invest to grow their wealth, and to take the actions required to shift their assets into alignment with their values. Written for smart, savvy women who want to feel financially empowered, Activate Your Money starts where other personal finance books leave off. It delivers the depth of information you need to make informed investment decisions across your entire portfolio. Starting with checking and savings accounts and proceeding asset class by asset class, this book provides you with core investment knowledge, as well as concrete examples about how and where you can invest your money in alignment with your values. You don't have to do it alone. As women, our strength is in relationships, and this book will help you use that strength to attain better financial outcomes for yourself and your family. Activate Your Money will help you find communities of support and position you to share your knowledge with other women and enable the next generation of smart, confident values-aligned investors. Activate Your Money also includes a companion website that contains downloadable tools you can use to take action and a curriculum that guides women through the process of starting and running their own values-aligned investment clubs. Step up your relationship with money and recognize the power you have to change the world through your investment decisions Demystify financial lingo, learn investment strategies, and acquire tools to help you grow your wealth Explore values-aligned investment options, asset class by asset class, and make informed decisions about where to put your money Break the taboo on discussing money with partners, advisors, friends, and daughters Unlike any other investing book out there, Activate Your Money offers expert guidance, a uniquely woman-centered approach, and a focus on doing good while doing well. Whether you are just starting out or are already a seasoned investor, this book has something for you. Use it as a reference that you can return to again and again as you build your knowledge, confidence, and values-aligned portfolio.
